Jamaica and Brianna

A lovely book. My 5 1/2 loves it and I love the message it conveys.

Jamaica and Brianna written by Juanita Havill illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien Jamaica and Brianna is a story about two young girls and their rain boots. Jamaica has to wear her older brother plain black boots with a hole in one of the toes while her friend Brianna has pink boots with pink fluff around the top cuff of the boots. Jamaica wants boots like her friend, so she picks at the hole in her boot until it's so big her mom will has to get her new ones. Instead of picking boots like Brianna's she picks boots that are just right for her. Back at school Brianna tells Jamaica that her boots aren't the in thing, and as a response she tells Brianna her boots are ugly. Both girls are sad and unhappy about the things they have said to one another. They end up telling each other that were jealous of each other's boots and they apologize and become friend once again. I find the subject matter to be relevant to today's children. I don't find that there is any outdated material present in the story. The book presents a very diverse world, which is important for today society. The reading level of this book is first or second grade reading level. If I were to use it as a read aloud I would also use it in Kindergarten. I believe it could also be used with preschool. The content of the story is understandable and appropriate for preschool through second grade. The book could be read to the class in one sitting. Most pages only have one paragraph on them with the rest of the page filled up with illustrations. The illustrations are watercolor and do a good job conveying the snowy outdoors and the warmth of inside. It is twenty-five pages long. The developmental level of Jamaica and Brianna is preschool through second grade. I think it is appropriate for all these levels because you can do different activities depending on the developmental level as follow up. Preschooler will probably need more guidance in discussing the book as opposed to a second grader. However, I believe that preschool through second grade would all be able to relate and understand the book. The main character in the story is an African-American girl and her friend is of Asian background. And throughout the book the teacher and the other students in the illustration are from a different race or ethnic background. That is not the focus of the book, but with emergent and young readers they tend to study the illustrations, therefore I think that it is important and valuable for them to see. I would use this book with the whole class because I feel the topic is something that we all experience in life. Therefore, its not specifically targeting a specialized issue one child is going through. It is more of a general feeling or emotion that is felt by all. The general feeling or emotion in this story is jealously. Jealously is the main topic of the book. The author has a way of conveying that feeling without making it complicated. It's simple and relatively easy to relate to